This invention relates to a device or arrangement for dispensing various medications that have been prescribed for patients, and is more specifically directed to a compact, inexpensive, and simple arrangement for dispensing pre-filled containers of medicaments, which can be capsules, pills, liquids, salves, etc. The invention is more particularly concerned with a semi-automated technique for filling patient prescription orders in a fashion that minimizes both the risk of human error and the occurances of mechanical failure. The invention is favorably applied to a semi-automated pharmaceutical dispensing cabinet that is for use in a hospital, a small satellite pharmacy, a clinic or a doctor's office.
The need for a prescription distribution cart or cabinet has long been recognized, and various medicine cabinets and carts have been proposed previously, in which patient and prescription data are stored on a computer and the stored data are employed in filling prescriptions from an automated cabinet or supply store. An example of an automated drug dispensing system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,485. In that system, bottles of pills or other prescription drugs are arranged in stacks or vertical bins within a locked cabinet. Patient information is entered into a computer, which actuates a pair of solenoids associated with one of the vertical bins, causing one bottle to drop down from that bin onto a ramp. The bottle then rolls down to a delivery area. In practice, these vertical drug containers can sometimes jam at the locations of the solenoids, and prevent the medication from being dispensed. As the cabinet is locked during dispensing, there is no way for the attendant to unjam the bin involved and correct the situation. Also, the stacks or bins in this arrangement do not keep track of the number of bottles or containers actually remaining in them. Instead, the computer can only keep track of the number of dispensing operations, and assumes that the bins had all been full at the onset.
Other medication dispensing arrangements have also been proposed, and some of these are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,969; U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,029; U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,995; U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,487; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,976.
However, none of these proposes a simple, reliable semi-automated drug dispensing cabinet that minimizes both human error and mechanical problems, and which can serve in a wide variety of health care environments.